"Pewter Effect" look on steel.

[niall Y]

Hi All,
This is something I've been puzzling for a while - How do commercial firms achieve the pewter finish on their steel hardware?
I've made quite a bit of my own hardware over the years, and the best pewter type finish I've been able to produce, involves first encouraging the steel to rust. This is then treated in a bath of hydrochloric acid, with added inhibitor, ( Armohib ).
This removes the rust and leaves a pleasing grey deposit on the steel. After extensive rinsing and drying, I coat the steel with Jade oil or similar. My main problem is that the pleasing grey starts to brown a little, and even indoors parts of the treated item will rust.
I assume that the professional finishes of this type are an electroplating of some sort, but what ?......... Zinc?......... Nickel ? Does anybody on the forum know what the answer is ?
Cheers, Niall

 

[Gregb]

Do you mean blackened or blued steel? If so there's a number of methods, including heating and quenching in oil. Chemical blueing. Also similar/same process to gun blueing.

 

[niall Y]

Hi ,Gregb,
Thanks for replying to my query. I'm fairly clued -up on most of the usual ways of finishing steel to get a pleasing effect. What I cannot do is reproduce the "pewter effect" that commercial firms use. My finish is a fairly acceptable dull grey, but it doesn't have the shiny highlights and it isn't long lasting.
My best guess, at the moment, is that it is a dull zinc-plating with polished highlights - which would tie in with the fact that it doesn't rust as readily as my attempts.
Cheers Niall

 

[hugov]

Have you got a photo Niall? I've got some pewter-effect window handles, but they're brass rather than steel, so not sure what you're describing exactly.

 

[D_W]

Grind using a surface finish that shows some grind marks (but too small to see a dominant direction) and then lightly polish (so as not to remove the grind marks) or apply a thin finish.

The effect you're talking about is just shortcutted polishing/glazing and not really a matter of high practice.